HYNDBURN'S supermarkets have reassured shoppers that they have responded quickly to the cancer-dye scare spreading across the nation.

More than 350 food products have been whipped off the shelves after it was announced that they were contaminated with the illegal food dye Sudan 1.

The dye, which is linked to an increased risk of cancer, was in chilli powder used by Premier Foods to make a Worcester Sauce, which was then used to flavour a range of other products.

Asda, which has a store in Hyndburn Road, Accrington, and the Co-op, which has shops in Great Harwood, Rishton, Oswaldtwistle and Clayton-le-Moors, have both had to pull a number of their own-brand products from the shelves.

A spokesperson for Asda said: "Fifty eight products were taken off the shelves - we sell 3,000. We found out on Tuesday last week and all of our products were withdrawn on that day and re-formulated overnight. None of the Asda brand products on sale in Accrington are affected at all."

A total of 14 of the Co-op's own-brand products have been affected. A spokesperson for the company said: "All of our stores were instructed a few days ago to take all of our affected products off the shelves. We have had regular communications with our store managers and all staff members are aware of the situation."

Holland's Pies, which has a factory at Manchester Road, Baxenden, has also been affected, with its multi-portion Rover's Return Lamb Hot Pot, which is sold to cash-and-carry outlets for use in the catering industry, joining the list of banned products.

The firm said 129 cases had been withdrawn and a further 100 that were still in stock had been destroyed.

The Food Standards Agency is urging local authorities to make contact with all caterers and smaller retailers in their area to ensure that affected products have been removed from sale.

Councillor Ann Scaife, Hyndburn Council's portfolio holder for environmental health, said: "We are liaising closely with Trading Stan-dards to make sure that local small retailers are aware of their responsibilities."

The Food Standards Agency has urged people not to eat the products but reassured them that the risk to health is likely to be very small.

For a full list of affected products check out the Food Standards Agency website at www.food.gov.uk/sudanlist .